


The taste of happiness

by abucketfulloffeels



Category: NMB48
Genre: yes I'm serious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 13:37:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4748363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abucketfulloffeels/pseuds/abucketfulloffeels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A fanfic about the relationship between human and food. Dystopic angst/AU/OOC (kinda).</p>
    </blockquote>





	The taste of happiness

**Author's Note:**

> A fanfic about the relationship between human and food. Dystopic angst/AU/OOC (kinda).

  She never forgot the last moment they were together.

  
  Hidden in the back alley behind her house one cold, rainy night, they were both alone.  
  
  Clasping her beloved tightly, her lips met her partner and an indescribable sensation overwhelmed her. A sweet taste lingered in her mouth, and she savoured every bit of it.

  10 minutes of sheer bliss, bliss ever so sweet that swept by like a hurricane through her whole body, tearing through her, leaving her so helpless such that all she could do was to buckle down from the surge of emotions. All of it was over as quickly as a flash of light, a light ever so bright, blinding, yet overwhelming the senses.  
  
  Such was the last time Yagura Fuuko ate ice-cream.  
  
~~~  
  
  It was the year 7 A.F, or 7 years “After Food”. 7 years before, the government had passed a law to phase out the consumption of “real” food, and any form of nutrition was to be in the form of  _NutriTabs,_  where one tablet contained all the essential nutrients and vitamins required by a person everyday. This was in a bid to “solve hunger problems” and “reduce the intake of excess calories”, as pitched by the Ministry of Nutrition (MON), but everyone knew that nothing came out from the mouth of politicians was the complete truth.  _(But I will not delve into the “real truth” here because it is irrelevant to this story.)_  
  
  Fuuchan was 16.

  She was only 9 when the first NutriTabs were introduced and the first round of foods started to be phased out.  
  
  Among the first kinds of foods to be phased out was ice-cream. Now, as much as Fuuchan loved food, ice-cream was her favourite. So when the MON decided to halt and ban the production of ice-cream for “it is a fattening product which has no nutritional value and only contributes to diabetes”, she was devastated.  
  
  “Why? Why does the government have to do this, Papa? Aren’t they supposed to make the people lead happy lives, as they always said? But by banning ice-cream, they aren’t making me happy!” The 9-year-old Fuuchan often bombarded her father with frustrated questions once the law was passed, but her father always remained silent.  
  
  “Aren’t you in the Ministry of Nutrition, Papa? Then why didn’t you stop them?” Hot tears streamed down her soft cheeks as she tugged her father’s arm.  
  
  Her father grunted and flipped his newspaper. He  _did_  want to try, but he knew it was of no use. Being a relatively unknown member in the ministry, his opinions were often dismissed, and even if he made them known, such radical opinions risked him losing his job in the ministry. As much as he wanted his only daughter to be happy, he did not want to lose the family’s main source of income.  
  
  So just like that, ice-cream and other sorts of food started to disappear, and the source of 9-year-old Fuuchan’s happiness was taken away just like that.  
  
  Fortunately, there was still a few boxes of ice-cream hidden in the freezer, so Fuuchan could still allow herself to indulge in some ice-cream secretly until the expiry date or when her stock depleted.  
  
  However, a year after, the MON ordered the people to destroy all freezers and refrigerators, for those were the appliances that allowed them to store all sorts of banned food. Papa promptly threw out the refrigerator and freezer, but luckily, Fuuchan was quick enough to save a final stick of ice-cream, a vanilla popsicle, (causing her father to fly into a rage), which she savoured at the back alley of the house.  
  
  Soaking wet, shivering from the cold and her face stained with tears after a fight with her father, 10-year-old Fuuchan ate her last ice-cream for the last time. It was a moment she remembered up till today.  _“So that was how happiness tasted like - cold and sweet,”_  she wrote in her diary.  
  
~~~  
  
  Fuuchan closed her diary after reading that entry 6 years ago. She threw herself onto her bed and stared at the ceiling, mulling over that line.  
  
  Fuuchan was not an unhappy girl. In fact, in the past 6 years, she had found many things that made her happy - friends, after-school activities, music, movies…many things. However, there was kind of happiness she had not felt for so long. It was the happiness of eating her favourite food - ice-cream.  
  
  After lying around and thinking for some time, Fuuchan sat up on her bed. As she did so, she said to herself, “I want to eat ice-cream again.”  
  
~~~  
  
  After school one particular day, instead of taking the usual route home, Fuuchan decided to make a detour and pass by her old neighbourhood. It was the one her family stayed in before her father got promoted and moved the whole family to a newer, more built-up district. It was also the same place where her father threw out the refrigerator and where she last tasted ice-cream.  
  
  As she walked past the small streets and narrow alleys, she suddenly heard a familiar voice.  
  
  “Fuuchan?”  
  
  She turned around. “Mil…Miyuki? Is that you? Long time no see!”  
  
  “Just call me Milky, no one is around anyway,” Miyuki, or Milky, as she rather be called, replied with a smile. (It came to a point where the MON frowned upon names of shops or buildings that reminded one about food, so Milky’s friends had to stop using her nickname in public so as to not be mistaken as “enemies of the people”.)  
  
  “Mm okay,” Fuuchan could not help but smile as well. Her childhood friend’s smile was contagious.  
  
  “What brings you here? Haven’t you moved out a year ago since your father became the new deputy Minister or Nutrition?”  
  
  Fuuchan shrugged.  
  
  Just then, Milky stuffed a piece of gum (which was banned, of course) into Fuuchan’s hand. “For you,” she whispered.  
  
  Fuuchan smiled back, and popped the gum discreetly in her mouth. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Milky doing so as well.  
  
  “Hey Milky,” Fuuchan quipped between chews.  
  
  “Yeah?”  
  
  “Do you know where I can get ice-cream?”  
  
  Milky looked perplexed for a moment, then she broke into a grin again. “I do.”  
  
  “Wh-where?”  
  
  “The black market does sell all sorts of foodstuff for exorbitant prices. I do know of one going on this Friday.”  
  
  “So where is it? And when?” Fuuchan was getting impatient, and she had to be careful not to raise her voice lest someone heard her.  
  
  “Basement 1 of Kamonegix Building, along Zetsumetsu Road. It starts at about 5.30 pm and ends at 7.”  
  
  
  “Th-thank you, Milky,” Fuuchan’s voice was trembling with excitement and anticipation.  
  
  “You’re…planning to go there yourself?”  
  
  “Yeah?”  
  
  “You do know that you were in the limelight after your father’s promotion, so the peddlers might recognise you and flee, thinking that you’re for the government…”  
  
  Fuuchan hesitated for a moment. “I can disguise myself.”  
  
  Milky shrugged. “I guess you can, but no guarantees that you won’t get caught.”  
  
  Fuuchan held Milky’s hands. “It’s okay, I’ll find my way out. Thanks a lot, Milky.” And with that, Fuuchan turned around, saying, “I gotta go back now, it’s getting late.”  
  
  Milky smiled her charming smile again. “Take care!”  
  
~~~  
  
  It was 4.30 pm on a gloomy, grey Friday afternoon. Donned in a set of baggy clothes, complete with a pair of over-sized glasses, a face mask and a cap, Fuuchan set off from her house. The building, located in the industrial area, was quite far away from the swanky residential district she stayed in, and she had to take the train and transfer buses twice to get there. She was thankful that her father, who had become so loyal to the party to the point where she gave up trying to convince him to do something about the food laws, did not come back till 9 pm everyday, giving her ample time to get slip out and back home unnoticed.  
  
  Staring out of the windows from the train and buses, the scenery changed from the clean, beautiful houses and flats to grey, gloomy factories with chimneys belching out black smoke. As a result of the food laws passed by the MON, dozens of factories have sprung up just to manufacture large amounts of NutriTabs, and pollution levels have skyrocketed. Of course, the government tried to cover it up with fake statistics, but everyone knew the extent of the damage.  
  
  Finally, Fuuchan reached Kamonegix Building. It was an old, dilapidated industrial building that once manufactured biscuits, which was now abandoned. However, in the basement, it was buzzing with activity as illegal foodstuff was being sold to willing buyers at sky-high prices.   
  
  Following Milky’s instructions, Fuuchan entered the building and went into the basement. A totally different sight greeted her eyes. Peddlers formed two neat rows as they sat by their stalls, hawking their goods. Most of them sold canned food and sweets, while a few of them sold fresh produce smuggled from neighbouring countries at unthinkable prices. All around her, people were bargaining with the peddlers and inspecting their purchase, and the atmosphere was lively. This reminded Fuuchan of her weekly visits to the market with her mother when she was still a young girl, albeit more cramp and dimly lit.  
  
  Fuuchan walked down the lane, looking out for a stall that sold ice-cream. At last, she spotted a stall run by an old lady with a high-pitched, nasal voice selling frozen goods.  
  
  “Baa-chan, do you sell ice-cream?” Fuuchan mumbled, her voice muffled by her face mask.  
  
  “Huuuh?”  
  
  “Do you sell ice-cream?” She repeated, raising her voice a little.  
  
  “Dearie, I’m hard on hearing. Could you…”  
  
  “ICE-CREAM?”  
  
  “Ah yes, we have it.”  
  
  “Can I have one? The…vanilla popsicle.”  
  
  “Sure. 90 NMBills.”  
  
  90 NMBills for a stick ice-cream was clearly daylight robbery. One could buy a decent bicycle with that amount of money. However, seeing that the old lady risked her life to obtain a freezer to sell her goods, and Fuuchan could easily afford it, she fished out a handful of crumpled notes from her wallet and handed it to the old lady.  
  
  As the old lady handed her the popsicle, she stared at Fuuchan’s face a little longer, and mumbled, “You look kinda familiar…”  
  
   _Oh snap,_  Fuuchan thought.  _“She probably recognises me as the daughter of the deputy Minister of Nutrition.”_  
  
  “Thank you,” Fuuchan said as she shoved the popsicle into her pocket and disappeared into the crowd before the old lady could look any closer.  
  Winding through the sea of people as she made her way to the exit, Fuuchan quickened her pace, afraid that someone would recognise her behind that mask and make a big fuss. The last thing she wanted was the peddlers to flee and her father being informed of her doings.  
  
  When Fuuchan got out of the building, she crossed the road, disappeared into two back lanes and passed through several shops in order to make sure that no one was tailing her while she got away from the building. By then, the sky started to show some signs of darkness. Finally, she reached a dark, narrow alley where she was sure that no one would catch her eating.  
  
  With trembling fingers, Fuuchan reached into her pocket, which was damp with the condensation from the cold ice-cream. She gingerly unwrapped it to reveal a creamy, white bar of pure goodness. Thankfully, it did not melt too much in her pocket and she could enjoy it when it was still nice and cold.  
  
  “Itadakimasu,” Fuuchan whispered as she dived in for the first bite. The popsicle was soft and creamy after being out from the freezer for a while, but it was heavenly. As Fuuchan broke away, she allowed the chunk of ice-cream she bit off to melt in her mouth and spread all over her tongue. It was a sensation she had forgotten after years of eating bland, hard tablets.  
  
  Suddenly, Fuuchan felt her eyes well up with tears. She laughed to herself. _“Seriously, Fuuchan. Crying while you’re eating ice-cream? You’re 16, girl.”_  
  
  Despite that, she did not hold back her tears, which flowed down her cheeks as she savoured every morsel of something she longed to eat for 6 whole years.  
  
  Just then, light, feathery droplets of rain fell from the sky. Fuuchan did not care one bit - nothing could hinder her reunion with her first and only love.  
  
  Soon, the ice-cream melted, and drops of melted ice-cream trickled down the stick, onto her arm. Fuuchan paused and licked up the streak of melted ice-cream, then went back and licked the parts that were rapidly melting.  
  
  Fuuchan did not expect the same scene from 6 years ago to happen again - on a cold, rainy evening, at the back at a dark narrow alley, Fuuchan, with her tear-stained face, was enjoying a vanilla popsicle by herself.  
  
  Being alone in a dark alley with something she loved but couldn’t be with reminded her of those “forbidden love” stories in the movies, just that in her case, it was ice-cream that she loved so dearly, and as outrageous as it seemed, it was forbidden. Fuuchan laughed quietly at her predicament - if she wasn’t born in this stinkin’ country, she wouldn’t have faced so much difficulty in getting to eat an ice-cream - in fact, she could have one whenever she wanted!  
  
  In no time, Fuuchan licked up the last drop of ice-cream and slipped the stick and wrapper back into her pocket. She allowed the sweet aftertaste to linger in her mouth - she may not be able to taste it again for a long time. Deep in her heart, Fuuchan felt that this was the best ice-cream she had eaten. Although it was quite plain as compared to the many different flavours she had tried as a child, it had an inexplicable sweet taste that reminded her of happiness - the sort of happiness that she had longed for.  
  
  But of course, we all know what the old proverb says: forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest.


End file.
